Internal medicine

Sprint

High-intensity interval training

Blood pressure

Meta-analysis

Aerobic exercise

Political science

Physical therapy

VO2 max

Interval training

MEDLINE

Heart rate

Athletes

Confidence interval

Anaerobic exercise

Medicine

Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports

The effects of short sprint interval training (sSIT) with efforts of ≤10 s on maximal oxygen consumption (V̇O 2 max), aerobic and anaerobic performances remain unknown. To verify the effectiveness of sSIT in physically active adults and athletes, a systematic literature search was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA). The databases PubMed/MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, and SPORTDiscus were systematically searched on May 9, 2020, and updated on September 14, 2021. Inclusion criteria were based on PICO and included healthy athletes and active adults of any sex (≤40 years), performing supervised sSIT (≤10 s of “all‐out” and non‐“all‐out” efforts) of at least 2 weeks, with a minimum of 6 sessions. As a comparator, a non‐sSIT control group, another high‐intensity interval training (HIIT) group, or a continuous training (CT) group were required. A total of 18 studies were deemed eligible. The estimated SMDs based on the random‐effects model were −0.56 (95% CI: −0.79, −0.33, p &lt; 0.001) for V̇O 2 max, −0.43 (95% CI: −0.67, −0.20, p &lt; 0.001) for aerobic performance, and −0.44 (95% CI: −0.70, −0.18, p &lt; 0.001) for anaerobic performance after sSIT vs. no exercise/usual training. However, there were no significant differences ( p &gt; 0.05) for all outcomes when comparing sSIT vs. HIIT/CT. Our findings indicate a very high effectiveness of sSIT protocols in different exercise modes (e.g., cycling, running, paddling, and punching) to improve V̇O 2 max, aerobic, and anaerobic performances in physically active young healthy adults and athletes.

Effects of short sprint interval training on aerobic and anaerobic indices: A systematic review and meta‐analysis